Recovery pack for air dropped test weapons



y 1963 s. H. KAUFFMAN ETAL 3,088,136

RECOVERY PACK FOR AIR DROPPED TEST WEAPONS Filed Dec. 8, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m L!- l INVENTORS s. H. KAUFFMAN R. L. DETWILER M. B.MOORE BY W y 1963 s. H. KAUFFMAN ETAL 3,088,136

RECOVERY PACK FOR AIR DROPPED TEST WEAPONS Filed Dec. 8, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS, S. H. KAUFFMAN R. L. DETWILER M. B. MOORE ATTORNEYS,

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RECOVERY-PACK FOR AIR DROPPED TEST WEAPONS Filed Dec. 8, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet s #5 u 0-! g h :n 2

l INVENTORS.

S. H. KAUFFMAN R. L. DETWILER IVL B. MOORE BY a m y 1963 s. H. KAUFFMAN ETAL 3,088,136

RECOVERY PACK FOR AIR DROPPED TEST WEAPONS Filed Dec. 8, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS. S. H. KAUFFMAN R.L. DETWILER M. B.MOORE BY I /3%W '7 TTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,088,136 RECOVERY PACK FOR AIR DRGPPED TEST WEAPONS Samuel H. Kautfman, Robert L. Detwiler, and Morrison B. Moore, Silver Spring, Md., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Dec. 8, 1959, Ser. No. 858,296 4 Claims. (Cl. 9-9) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention rel-ates to a new and improved system for recovering a test weapon which has been dropped into a body of Water; and is more particularly concerned with a new and improved recovery system which is suitable for recovering test weapons from deep water.

It is common practice in the ordnance art when developing a new weapon to test the weapon to determine its physical characteristics, the mode of operation of its safing and arming system, aerodynamic and, where appropriate, its hydrodynamic characteristics by employing a dummy weapon in a simulated tactical environment. The warhead or explosive portion of these test missiles are generally removed so that various instruments may be substituted in their place and so that the missile may be used over and over again during testing.

When the Weapon is to be used in water such, for example as a torpedo, antisubmarine bomb or mine, or missile designed to enter the water, a special problem arises-t-hat of recovering the test weapon. When the weapon is dropped in rather shallow water (up to 150 ft.) this problem is not critical since a length of cable can be attached to the weapon at one end and a buoy at the other which buoy is released upon bottom impact of the missile thereby providing an easy method of recording the location of the test weapon and recovering it. On the other hand, when the water into which the missile or weapon is dropped is substantially greater than 150 ft. it may be impossible to include a length of cable great enough to reach to the surface in the body of the missile. Furthermore, the weapon being in deep water, it is impractical or even impossible to send divers to the bottom to search for it.

When a long cable is employed so that the weapon rests upon the bottom and the buoy floats on the surface another difilculty is encountered. In such a prior art system, the buoy drifts so that it is not directly above the weapon. In retrieving the weapon by reeling in the recovery cable it therefore must first be dragged along the ocean floor until it is directly beneath the buoy before it commences to ascend. At it is dragged across the ocean floor, it may become snagged on irregularities on the bottom thereby putting sufficient stress on the recovery cable to part it.

Formerly, if it was desired to test a weapon designed to explode at depths greater than 200 ft., it was generally necessary to test the missile in shallow Water. This is unsatisfactory since the arming and firing mechanism of the weapon is usually designed to operate at a certain depth. If this depth is not reached, the behavior and operation of the firing and arming switches cannot be realistically evaluated under simulated tactical conditions.

By this invention there is provided a novel recovery pack for weapons dropped into the sea at high speeds which pack can be used in shallow water but is especially useful where the water is very deep so that the conventional recovery systems cannot be used.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved recovery pack for an air drop weapon entering 3,688,136 Patented May 7, 1963 a deep body of water, which pack affects only slightly the underwater trajectory of the weapon.

It is another object of this invention to provide a compact, rugged, and reliable recovery pack for recovering aircraft weapons from deep water.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved system for recovering a test weapon from deep water and having a recovery or marker balloon wherein the weapon hangs from the balloon free of the bottom and directly under the recovery balloon so that it may be retrieved without parting the cable.

These and many other objects will become more readily apparent when the following specification is read and considered along with the attendant drawings wherein like numerals designate like or similar parts throughout the various views in which:

FIGS. lah are diagrammatic representations of the sequence of operations of a typical test for a weapon employing this recovery pack;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the recovery pack of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the aft portion of a typical practice bomb containing a recovery pack construction according to the principles of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 2 showing the position of the gas bottles used to inflate the balloon; and

FIG. 5 is a section in which is shown the balloon partially inflated.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the sequence of operations of the apparatus of this invention Would in a typical case be as follows:

A typical Weapon 11 having fins 12 and a pack 13 affixed thereto is shown in FIG. 1 just as it is about to enter the water. Upon water entry a cavity or air bubble immediately begins to form. This cavity increases in size and completely surrounds the weapon even after it has passed a considerable distance below the normal surface of the body of water 14. Upon water entry the pack 13 is freed from the fin 12 in a manner which will be more readily apparent as the description proceeds so that it is free to move away from the weapon after Water entry. Upon collapse of the air bubble, the pack is buffeted free of the weapon and floats toward the surface, paying out a length of cable 19, since it is positively buoyant. When the recovery pack 13 travels a short distance from the missile, a lanyard 16 between the weapon and the recovery pack opens a valve which allows gas to flow into the collapsed balloon 18 Within thepack so that the balloon begins rapid inflation knocking off the cover 17 which fits over the container 13. The balloon becomes rapidly indated and rises quickly to the surface paying out an additional length of cable 19* from the weapon. When the cable 19 is payed out, the balloon 1S is pulled below the surface and gradually slows the rate of descent of the weapon. When the weapon reaches its maximum depth, the entire assembly, being positively buoyant after the inflation of the balloon 18, rises slowly to the surface and a portion of the balloon extends above the surface making it readily visible for recovery operations. When it is desired to recover the assembly, a lariat of cable is dropped around the balloon 18 and allowed to move below case 13 Where it is snubbed. The entire assembly is then raised by a pick-up boat or other suitable recovery vessel.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the after portion of weapon 11 contains a cable dispenser 21 in which cable 19 is initially stored. One end of the cable is secured to the recovery pack 13 by means of a swedge fitting at 22 at foot plate 23. At the opposite end of the cable is formed a swedge (not shown) adapted to seat in a similar retainer 25 when the cable is fully payed out. A rather small conduit 24 along the outer surface of the weapon houses lanyard 16 which is secured at one end to a valve 26 (FIG. 2) for inflating the balloon. It is shown merely schematically in the drawings for the reason that it forms no part of the invention per se. Any number of valves could be employed for the purpose. However, the valve assembly manufactured by Knapp Monarch Co. (parts No. A-128RTB) was employed for this purpose. A second swedge fitting is formed at 27 at one end of conduit 24 so that when the pack and the weapon separate and lanyard 16 moves through conduit 24 it is arrested at 27 and opens valve 26 when the pack and the weapon are a few feet apart. The lanyard then pulls free of the valve.

Foot plate 23 has aflixed thereto a plurality of toes or lugs 28, FIG. 3, which match the feet 29 welded to the fins 12 on the weapon. A segmented clamping ring 31 maintains the feet 28 and 29 in mutual abutting relation as the weapon moves through the air. When the missile enters the water, a plurality of inertia weights 32 which are disposed in appropriate eyelets in clamping ring 31 release ring 31 in the conventional manner. That is to say, upon water entry the inertia weights continue in the direction of travel substantially unaffected by the deceleration of the missile thereby withdrawing themselves through eyelets 33. A soft C-ring 34 may conveniently be secured to the inertia weights to prevent them from slipping out of eyelets 3 3 except on rapid deceleration of weapon 1.1 in which event, 'C-rings 34 are either deformed out of position and allow inertial weights 32 to pass through the eyelets or the C-rings may be actually snapped. It is to be understood, of course, that instead of inertia weights a water paddle arrangement could also be used to effect separation of the weapon from the pack or container 13. In any event, upon separation, at water entry the container is free to move away from the weapon and it does so when the water bubble mentioned hereinbefore collapses thereby bufiieting the pack or container free from the weapon. This withdraws the lanyard 16 through conduit 2.4 as the containers velocity is decreased due to its positive buoyancy so that the lanyard operates valve 26 and then pulls free of the valve mechanism and remains secured to the weapon.

Upon the opening of the valve 26 cover 17 is forced off as the balloon 18 begins to inflate.

Reference should be now had to FIGS. 2 and 4. As seen in these figures, container 13 houses the valve 26 and a pair of gas bottles 35 which are connected to a manifold 36 and thence to a conduit 37 leading to the interior of the balloon through an anvil arrangement. As seen in FIG. 2 the anvil consists of a conduit 37 having an enlarged end 38 which is disposed within the balloon 18. This enlarged end is bevelled to cooperate with a wedging device 39 threadedly secured to the outer portion of the conduit 37. The balloon is disposed about the enlarged end 38 of conduit 37 and a clamping ring 41 of a convex shaped interior is disposed about the balloon. The wedge 39 is tightened so that the seal between the bevel-led portion of conduit 37, wedge 39 and clamping ring 41 is air tight. As an extra precaution, the material of the balloon is drawn up on the outside of the clamping ring 41 and a metal ring 42, disposed about the balloon, is tightened. Furthermore, this balloon material may also be drawn over the outer side of the ring 42 and another ring 43 clamped about the balloon for additional protection. The balloon itself is constructed preferably of any material suitable for the purpose such, for example, as nylon impregnated with polyvinylchloride. This is in the form generally of a sleeve so that it is closed off at the opposite end in a manner similar to the closure method described. Of course, there is no open conduit leading into the balloon at the opposite end.

This type balloon may be obtained commercially. Disposed within the balloon is a second nylon sleeve 44 of rather coarse mesh. This sleeve is shown in the drawings as a liner for the balloon; when the balloon is inflated, however, the sleeve 44 does not expand but remains as a central sleeve disposed within the inflated balloon as shown in FIG. 5. The purpose of this sleeve will be described hereinafter.

In order to inflate the balloon as rapidly as possible, a siphon tube 46 (FIG. 4) is disposed in each gas bottle which preferably may contain CO Accordingly, upon release of valve 26 the manifold 36 is connected to the conduit 37 by release of a spring biased plug 47 in the conduit, liquid CO is free to flow into the balloon under the pressure of the gaseous CO Of course this extremely cold liquid could damage the balloon if it were allowed to impinge upon sleeve 18 in a burst of great violence. Therefore the sleeve 44 disposed within the balloon acts as a diffuser to prevent direct contact of liquid CO with the balloon 18. The advantage of rapid inflation of the balloon is thereby accomplished since all the CO is forced out of the bottles in a short time since it is coming out in the form of a liquid for the most part rather than a gas but does not involve the danger of any damage to the balloon since the balloon itself is protected by the central nylon liner.

The valving, the balloon and the manifold must be suitably supported by pillars or support blocks 48 since the device undergoes shocks of great magnitude upon water entry and any cantilever portion would be snapped off upon application of the deceleration forces encountered in water entry. The thin liner 49 separating the balloon of case 13 from the valve portion of the case is supported by a platform or plate 51, resting upon pillars 48. The cover is secured to the container 13 merely by reason of the fact that it is a close fit or it may be secured by a weak adhesive so that upon inflation of the balloon, the cover pops off readily. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention provides a novel system for recovering a practice weapon from deep water which system is reliable and sufficiently rugged to withstand water entry at high velocities.

Although this invention has been described with reference to a single preferred embodiment it is by no means so limited. It is susceptible of modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Accordingly, the foregoing illustrative example is not to be construed as limiting this invention in any manner; rather the scope of the appended claims define the invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination with a test weapon for high velocity drops in deep water, a recovery pack comprising; a container, a plurality of releasable clamping means securing the weapon to said container, means for releasing said clamping means upon entry of said weapon into the water, a lanyard operated valve disposed within said container, a lanyard secured to said weapon and connected to said valve to operate said valve upon separation of the weapon and the container a predetermined distance after entry of said weapon into the water, at least one high pressure bottle containing a gas and liquid and contained within said container said bottle being connected to said valve and, the discharge of said bottle being controlled by said valve, an initially deflated balloon within said container, a flexible, substantially non-expansible diffusion liner located substantially centrally within said balloon and connected to said valve to receive the discharge from said bottle, cable dispensing means secured to said recovery pack at one end and to the test weapon at the other end and housed within said test weapon for paying out a length of cable upon inflation of said balloon whereby said balloon is inflated shortly after entry of said weapon into the water to retard the rate of the underwater descent of the weapon and to rise to the surface after said weapon reaches the limit of its descent.

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2. In combination with a test weapon adapted to enter deep water at a high speed, a recovery pack comprising; a container, clamping means releasably securing said container to the weapon, said clamping means being releasable upon entry of the weapon into the water to effect separation of the weapon and said container, cable means disposed within said weapon and interconnecting said container and the weapon, a normally deflated balloon within said container, fluid containing means mounted within said container and having a quantity of expansible fluid consisting of a liquid portion and a gaseous portion therein, conduit means interconnecting said balloon and said fluid containing means, a normally closed lanyard operated valve disposed in said conduit means, lanyard means connected between said weapon and said valve 'for 15 opening said valve to initiate fluid flow from said fluid containing means into said balloon as the valve opens upon separation of the weapon and said container a predetermined distance, whereby said balloon is inflated shortly after separation of said container from the Weapon to increase the aggregate buoyancy of the balloon and the weapon thereby to gradually retard underwater descent of the weapon and thereafter to rise to the surface.

3. A recovery pack according to claim 2 further including siphon means fixed within said fluid containing means to discharge the liquid portion of the fluid before the gaseous portion is discharged.

4. The recovery pack according to claim 3 further including a porous flexible liner within said balloon and connected to said valve to receive the discharge from said fluid containing means thereby to prevent the liquid portion of the fluid from impinging upon the balloon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 940,506 Broomell Nov. 16, 1909 1,473,148 Hammond Nov. 6, 1923 2,192,450 Miller Mar. 5, 1940 2,508,303 Sturtevant May 16, 1950 2,752,615 Parker July 3, 1956 2,825,803 Newbrough Mar. 24, 1958 2,903,717 Vintschger Sept. 15, 1959 2,949,853 Vogt Aug. 23, 1960 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A TEST WEAPON FOR HIGH VELOCITY DROPS IN DEEPER WATER, A RECOVERY PACK COMPRISING; A CONTAINER, A PLURALITY OF RELEASABLE CLAMPING MEANS SECURING THE WEAPON TO SAID CONTAINER, MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID CLAMPING MEANS UPON ENTRY OF SAID WEAPON INTO THE WATER, A LANYARD OPERATED VALVE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID CONTAINER, A LANYARD SECURED TO SAID WEAPON AND CONNECTED TO SAID VALVE TO OPERATE SAID VALVE UPON SEPARATION OF THE WEAPON AND THE CONTAINER A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE AFTER ENTRY OF SAID WEAPON INTO THE WATER, AT LEAST ONE HIGH PRESSURE BOTTLE CONTAINING A GAS AND LIQUID AND CONTAINED WITHIN SAID CONTAINER SAID BOTTLE BEING CONNECTED TO SAID VALVE AND, THE DISCHARGE OF SAID BOTTLE BEING CONTROLLED BY SAID VALVE, AN INITIALLY DEFLATED BALLOON WITHIN SAID CONTAINER, A FLEXIBLE, SUBSTANTIALLY NON-EXPANSIBLE DIFFUSION LINER LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY WITHIN SAID BALLOON AND CONNECTED TO SAID VALVE TO RECEIVE THE DISCHARGE FROM SAID BOTTLE, CABLE DISPENSING MEANS SECURED TO SAID RECOVERY PACK AT ONE END AND TO THE TEST WEAPON AT THE OTHER END AND HOUSED WITHIN SAID TEST WEAPON FOR PAYING OUT A LENGTH OF CABLE UPON INFLATION OF SAID BALLOON WHEREBY SAID BALLOON IS INFLATED SHORTLY AFTER ENTRY OF SAID WEAPON INTO THE WATER TO RETARD THE RATE OF THE UNDERWATER DESCENT OF THE WEAPON AND TO RISE TO THE SURFACE AFTER SAID WEAPON REACHES THE LIMIT OF ITS DESCENT. 